In the prior art, there are numerous machines for collating or sorting paper sheets as they are supplied from a source such as a printer or copier machine, wherein sheets are either selectively or sequentially transported from a supply of sheets to trays adapted to receive the sheets in collated or sorted sets or order. In certain of such collating or sorting machines, a sheet transport is provided to carry sheets to receiver trays, wherein, in the sheet path, deflectors or fingers are disposed to normally allow sheets to pass by a given tray, but upon actuation to a sheet deflection position, to deflect the sheet into a tray. An example of such a collator or sorter is exemplified in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,459 granted Feb. 10, 1976.
A travelling deflector has also been employed to direct sheets into successive trays from a path extending past the inlet end of the trays, as exemplified in Snellman U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,254 granted Dec. 3, 1968, and Raible et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,894 granted Feb. 8, 1977, and Arvett et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,955 granted Aug. 12, 1980.
Also it is known, as shown in Wentworth U.S. Pat. No. 2,328,317 to index a travelling transport past spaced trays to feed sheets into the trays.
Such prior devices have typically employed complex travelling belt systems to transport the sheets to the location at which they are fed into the trays, either by deflection of the sheet or by the beam strength of the sheet, as well as, in some cases, the velocity of the sheet.
In the Raible et al and Arvitt et al devices the sheets are positively driven into the trays by virtue of deflection of a belt type transport towards the inlet to the tray from a straight condition by a travelling device which causes the belt to form a feed path diverting the sheet into the tray.